Halls of Ripon, the city’s only department store, will re-open with new traders from tomorrow morning (Wednesday, March 13).

The store on Fishergate closed for a major revamp and reconfiguration in January.

Ahead of tomorrow’s reopening, the Stray Ferret was invited for a sneak peek at the new-look layout.

Halls of Ripon director Mike Cooper (pictured above) said:

“For the next few days, entry will be via the Marshall Way Car Park entrance and Hive Cafe – which has remained open throughout the reconfiguration works.”

He added:

“Following discussions with our landlord, we decided that it was safe to allow customers in to the part of the building where the refurbishment has already been completed. The remaining works on the Fishergate frontage is ongoing.”

Hedley Hall’s vintage vehicles and collectables

The reconfiguration has increased floorspace and Mr Cooper added:

“We will be reopening with new entrants including Timeless Treasures (archaeological finds) Dennis Fielding (antiques and collectables) and Signature Baby Boutique.”

Halls of Ripon’s expanded offer includes a wide range of women’s fashion.

Owned by Ripon-based property investment and development company Sterne Properties Ltd, the former Wrens store re-opened under its new Halls of Ripon branding in July 2021.

Operations director Barry Cooper, who works alongside his father Mike and runs the Red Buttons Jewellers in Halls, said:

“We anticipated that the post-covid bounce back for Ripon retail would be led by the city’s strong mix of independent businesses and we got it right.

“The proof of the pudding can be seen in the fact that we are expanding when many of the big names on the high street are downsizing their portfolios and closing stores.”

Simon Richardson with his Timeless Treasure stall, is one of the three new entrants.

He added:

“We’re sure that Peacocks who opened a few doors down from us at the end of February, and Trespass who opened in the former Barclays Bank building in November, will have chosen Ripon ahead of other locations.

“This is because Ripon’s mixture of independent retailers and hospitality businesses, combined with affordable parking and £2 fares on the 36 bus all make this historic city an attractive proposition.”

Read more:

• Ripon-based property company plans further investment in the city
• Famous Halls retail name back on Ripon high street

Canal-side walks in Ripon have become a pleasant experience once more after North Yorkshire Council stepped in to clear dog poo packages.

Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on the council, told the Stray Ferret:

“After the Canal and River Trust stopped emptying the black litter bins on the stretch from the canal basin to beyond Farmison, I started receiving complaints about the little black bags piling up around the overflowing bins.

“Clearly, this was an unsatisfactory situation for dog walkers, walkers, boat owners and other visitors to this picturesque part of Ripon.”

A penalty notice at Ripon Canal.

A red bin for dog poo bags.

He added:

“The matter was also raised by my colleagues at the city council and, after I met on site with officers, I was pleased when the unitary authority agreed to empty the black bins, along with the limited number of red bins dedicated for disposal of dog excrement that already came within their remit.

“It’s great to get this type of common-sense co-operation between councils and pleasing that the issue has been resolved ahead of the Easter holidays, when more people will be out and about enjoying this popular Ripon tourist attraction,”

Picture: Cllr Williams at one of the canal-side black bins now emptied by North Yorkshire Council.

Read more

• Ripon solicitors win replacement roof appeal
• Plan for dog-walking field in Ripon rejected

With its history, heritage attractions, magnificent cathedral, traditions, customs, rivers, canal and garden racecourse, Ripon has many reasons to blow its own horn.

It will be doing just that later this month when Allison Clark, a member of the city’s hornblower team, attends a major show with the aim of attracting more visitors.

Ripon Business Improvement District — under Visit Ripon branding — has partnered with Newby Hall and Harewood House to attend the British Travel & Tourism Show on March 20 and 21 at the NEC in Birmingham.

BID manager Lilla Bathurst (pictured below) told the Stray Ferret,:

“The British Travel & Tourism Show is the largest UK show for the group travel trade. Ripon BID is committed to encouraging more visitors to Ripon and as the group travel market is an important part of that, we feel it is vital to have a presence at the show.”

She added:

“The Visit Ripon stand will showcase Ripon for groups with a newly-commissioned video of all the attractions by local Ripon videographer Save the Dog Productions and a specially produced brochure which includes all relevant details for group tours.

“We will also have Allison joining us to give talks on the history of the hornblowers at three set times each day, which we are sure will mean our stand will be a major draw.”

Coach party parking

Ms Bathurst also said that with the help of Cllr Andrew Williams, the BID had successfully lobbied North Yorkshire Council to have the coach parking four-hour restriction lifted. She said:

“This should be actioned before the summer which will aid in our drive to encourage tour parties to stay for longer in Ripon and increase spend in our businesses.”

With Ripon being at the forefront of a resurgence in bricks and mortar retail and trading due to the innovative approach taken by many of its independent businesses, Ripon BID has entered the Visa/British Retail Consortium ‘Let’s Celebrate Towns’ competition.

The city is one of 30 entrants shortlisted and the winners are due be announced on March 13 at the House of Lords in London.  There are eight prizes of a £15,000 grant to go towards a community project plus skills and education training for SMEs to be awarded.

At Monday’s full Ripon City Council meeting, councillors voted in favour of ordering new frock coats and hats for the hornblowers.

It is understood that the coats made by a military tailor will cost approximately £900 apiece and be designed for use in all weather conditions.

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Homes England‘s suggestion that extremely rare military buildings on the Ripon barracks site could be demolished and replaced with replicas, was greeted with derision at last night’s city council meeting.

Council leader Andrew Williams drew laughter from fellow councillors when he said:

“It’s like saying we’re going to knock down Fountains Abbey and replace it with a model that can be moved closer to Ripon!

“It’s clearly ridiculous and shows a complete lack of understanding of the major significance of the city’s military heritage.”

Cllr Williams and Cllr Barbara Brodigan, who are Ripon’s two representatives on North Yorkshire Council, spoke of their frustration at the lack of progress being made in discussions with Homes England about the protection and maintenance of ‘priceless’ historic buildings and structures, which could be bulldozed to make way for 1,300 houses on a development known as Clotherholme.

A computer generated image of the proposed barracks site which is rich in military history.

Members voted unanimously to support a proposal from Cllr Brodigan for the city council to write a letter backing the work of Ripon Military Heritage Trust, which was formed last year to research, conserve, interpret and provide access to the tangible and intangible military heritage of the City of Ripon.

Cllr Brodigan said:

“Both Homes England and North Yorkshire Council need to know that the barracks site is unique because it is unique in having heritage features of a national and international significance that help to tell the story of Ripon’s role in the two World Wars and the subsequent Cold War.

“Homes England just don’t seem to get this, as they showed when they came up with the idea of replacing the priceless huts dating back to World War II with replicas.

“They also seem to think that a few noticeboards and relevant street names will suffice, rather than a proper heritage trail, as recommended by the trust.”

Response from Homes England

Last month, after city councillors raised concerns about Homes England’s approach to military heritage at the barracks site, a spokesperson for the government’s housing and regeneration agency, said:

“We remain committed to delivering a military heritage strategy as part of our wider proposals for the site and continue to discuss options with the local planning authority and the Ripon Military Heritage Trust.”

The government agency pointed out:

• Details for the heritage strategy, its funding, and potential use of the existing military structures continue to be fine-tuned as part of the planning application process.
• As part of ongoing discussions with North Yorkshire Council, Homes England and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation have committed to spending £100.000 towards the progression of the submitted heritage strategy. The council has asked Homes England / the DIO to continue engagement with Ripon Military Heritage Trust over the submitted heritage strategy and a number of options are now being explored as part of those discussions.

Main image: Are these extremely rare Second World War huts at the Ripon barracks site, going to remain or be removed? Picture: Ripon Military Heritage Trust

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Read more:

• The priceless military heritage on Ripon’s barracks site
• Homes England sets aside £10 million for agreement covering Ripon development site

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Would you like to be shown the ropes at bell ringing? or find out what life was like behind bars in Victorian Ripon?

On Saturday March 9, local residents have the opportunity to enjoy, free of charge, the Sights and Sounds of the city at an event centred on the cathedral and featuring family-friendly activities, including dance, choir performances and poetry readings.

The cathedral  will also host an exhibition  where more than 40 local charities, public service providers and voluntary organisations., will display details of the work that they do.

Sights and Sounds will also includes activities at Ripon Library and the city’s three museums

The event is organised by North Yorkshire Council as part of the Ripon My Neighbourhood partnership which involves a wide range of public and voluntary sector organisations working together, focusing on the Ripon Minster ward.

The cathedral will host bell ringing, tours of the belltower, family crafts and games, music performed by local choirs, a pop-up café and dancing from the Ripon City Morris Dancers and Betty Lupton’s Ladle Laikers.

Ripon Library is offering free storytime for under fives and a free Lego club

Alexa Vernon, director of Ripon Museum Trust, told the Stray Ferret:

“All three of our museums – the Workhouse on Allhallowgate, Prison & Police at St Mary’s Gate and Courthouse at Minster Gardens, are taking part in this community event.

“This presents a great opportunity for local residents to visit all three of these magnificent heritage attractions to get an insight into what life was like for less fortunate members of society who fell on hard times.

“From workhouse to courthouse, imprisonment and, for some, deportation or execution, it was the sad downward spiral for many who lived in poverty and our linked museums take the visitor on this grim, yet fascinating journey.”

At Ripon Library between 11am and 12.30 children will have the opportunity to put their building skills to the test at the free Lego club and from 11am until 11,30 and 12 noon to 12.30, there is storytime for under fives and their families.

Details of all events can be found here

Main image: A captivating experience awaits for Ripon residents visiting the Prison & Police Museum free of charge on March 9.

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• Can you help solve Ripon school’s mural mystery?
• Ripon set for a referendum on cathedral annexe plan

Ripon has the opportunity to follow in Chester’s footsteps and become recognised for its accessibility to all people.

That’s the aim of Ripon Disability Forum, which will launch its Access Ambassadors programme in the city on Monday evening at the Ripon Inn (7pm-8pm)

The event, which will be attended by a number of Ripon businesses, aims to put access issues at the top of the agenda by promoting good practice.

Forum trustee Jeremy Dunford told the Stray Ferret:

“Ripon, as an ancient city, is not dissimilar to Chester, whose roots go back to Roman times and it has devised a wide-ranging strategy that ensures that its shops, public buildings, market and visitor attractions, can be enjoyed by as many people as possible,

“They  were the first British city to be awarded a European Access City Award and set a high standard for others to emulate.”

He added:

“This helps people, like myself, who have limited mobility, along with those who have sight impairment, parents who have children in prams and pushchairs and others.

“It also makes economic sense, because businesses known to offer good accessibility will be able to promote that and take a greater slice of the purple pound (disposable income of people with disabilities). Currently the national value of this is estimated at £274 billion per annum.”

To start the initiative, the forum is working in partnership with Ripon Business Improvement District and teaming up with local businesses who already exhibit one or more good accessible features.

The objective is to promote, through all media channels, existing good practice and then work with the ambassador businesses to find other improvement measures that are practical and affordable.

The forum recognises not all venues can physically accommodate wheelchairs but they can still be accessible to people with other disabilities, for instance by giving them access to employment opportunities.

A leading example of this is Sarita McDermott’s Realite Indian tea room in North Street where she has provided employment for people with disabilities for more than eight years,

She said:

“I will be at Ripon Inn on Monday evening along with other businesses in the city because access in all its forms, from being able to get into a building, to shop, eat, take exercise or be entertained is a fundamental right, as is the right to gain access to employment, which can be life changing for some people,”

This is certainly the case for 45-year-old Martin Grainger and 18-year-old Lewis Hampton, who are popular with tea room customers.

Martin said:

“Working for Reality has been great for me, I like serving people and asking if they have enjoyed their drink or delicious piece of cake that Sarita has baked.”

Lewis added:

“I’ve been working here for 18 months and it has made me feel more confident, because the customers are very nice and ask me how I’m getting on.”

Places are still available for Monday’s event and any business wishing to attend should contact ripondisabilityforum@gmail.com

Picture: Sarita McDermott is pictured at Realitea with her colleagues Martin Grainger (right) and Lewis Hampton.

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This aerial cgi shows the proposed annexe between the Courthouse Museum to the right and the Old Deanery restaurant. Image Ripon Cathedral Renewed.

The veteran beech (foreground) is one of 11 mature trees that would be felled.

The signatories of the letter to Gerard Walsh all took part in the protest at Minster Gardens on November 25.

Local resident and environmental journalist Brian McHugh, who has sought the precise dimensions of the annexe and details about the compensatory planting of 300 trees in return for the 11 that face being felled on Minster Gardens, claimed the drop-in events “were farcical and no more than a cosmetic ‘tick box’ exercise”. He added:

“By no stretch of the imagination can they be considered as a valid or acceptable public consultation and this prompted me and six fellow campaigners, who have also attended the events to send an open letter to North Yorkshire Council planning officer Gerard Walsh, who is handling the planning application.

“We all have major doubts about the veracity of responses received to legitimate questions that we asked and that prompted us to send an open letter to Mr Walsh.”

‘End this sham of a consultation’

The letter urges Mr Walsh to “intervene to end this sham of a ‘public consultation’, which consists of: no significant changes to the original submission; newly formatted leaflets with no new information; 70% of ‘drop ins’ during the working day and a lack of record keeping from cathedral staff of comments and suggestions by the public”.

It added questions on key issues such as where the 300 trees will be planted as compensation had received conflicting responses and was now being treated as a private matter between the landowner and the cathedral. The letter added:

“As this ‘off-site planting’ is supposed to be compensation to the people of Ripon for the trees felled at Minster Gardens, it is not a ‘private matter’, but very much a matter of public interest. This is a material consideration to the proposal.

“We urge you to use your powers to intervene and bring this sham of a proposal to a halt before further embarrassment is caused to the city of Ripon.”

Planned public meeting 

Heritage specialist Andy Bates has organised a meeting on the upper floor of So! Bar at Old Market Place Ripon on Thursday to set-up a separate community consultation about the annexe application, away from the cathedral.

The meeting from 7pm to 9pm will be open to all and Mr Bates has said in posts on social media:

“Our first meeting needs to be one in which we plan how to conduct a community consultation about the proposed cathedral annexe and the proposed destruction of the trees. This consultation will be put together by the people of Ripon.

“The Dean and Chapter, and all other parties, will be invited when that consultation meeting comes to pass. This, I hope, will reclaim control of the narrative from the cathedral, and will allow all people who are involved to find and speak with their own voices; voices which might otherwise not be heard; voices which might otherwise actually be silenced.”

The Stray Ferret asked the Ripon Cathedral Renewed Comms team to respond to the claims made but has not received a response.

Main image:: Some of the trees under threat in Minster Gardens

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Read more:

• Ripon Cathedral announces next steps in £8 million annexe consultation
• Campaigner expresses ‘annexation’ fears for Ripon’s Minster Gardens

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With additional public consultation on Ripon Cathedral’s controversial planning application starting at 3pm today (Monday, February 12), a leading campaigner has criticised the way the issue is being handled.

The cathedral “paused” its planning application to North Yorkshire Council for an £8 million new development on Minster Gardens last month in the wake of opposition from campaigners and local businesses.

It is hosting drop-in events this month and in March to allow people to ask about the plans, which would involve felling trees.

But Kevin Hill who, with his wife Liz, owns and runs a retail business on Kirkgate, fears the cathedral is determined to press ahead. He said:

“It’s looking ominously clear that the cathedral is hell-bent on its attempted annexation of a public open space and it won’t let a few trees stand in its way.

“All this to cram a two-storey annexe which is larger than the Ripon M&S Food store onto land that has been enjoyed by the public for more than 200 years.”

The 11,000 sq ft M&S Ripon Foodhall is smaller than the proposed cathedral annexe.

Mr Hill added:

“Many people still haven’t realised that the proposed annexe, with its 80-seat 2,228 sq ft refectory, along with gift shop, song school, toilets and storage areas, is 11,840 square feet, almost 1,000  square feet more than the two-storey M&S food hall at the St Michael’s retail park, which is 11,000 square feet.

“The cathedral continues to say in its publications and display materials that the new building’s footprint will cover the area currently occupied by the existing toilet block, tarmacked footpath and drive, while carefully failing to add that it will also take up a very large slice of the adjacent parkland area.”

Computer generated images of the proposed building. Picture Ripon Cathedral Renewed

The proposed building’s footprint will cover the toilets, tarmac and an adjacent area of Minster Gardens to the right.

Ripon resident Jenni Holman, who has raised a petition signed by more than 2,100, people calling for the trees and green space to be saved from development, said:

“We want the cathedral to thrive and get the 21st century facilities that it urgently needs, but are convinced that they can achieve this, while ensuring that the public green space of Minster Gardens with its mature trees remain here for the enjoyment of the people of Ripon, visitors to the city and future generations.

“It also greatly concerns us that 21 of the 22 consultation events are being held at the cathedral and only three of them are being held outside of normal working and shop hours, meaning that many Ripon residents and business owners will be unable to attend.”

As revealed by the Stray Ferret, prior to last month’s announcement of the planning application pause, Andrew Williams, the leader of Ripon City Council met with the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson and the cathedral’s communications manager Michele Gee.

Following that meeting, which took place on January 9, Cllr Williams, said he had “suggested to the Dean that such public consultation would be best undertaken away from the cathedral itself”.

The Stray Ferret raised the concerns of campaigners with the cathedral but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Consultation events calendar

Apart from an event between 9am and 12 noon at Ripon Town Hall on Thursday March 7, the other 21 events will be held at the cathedral. at the dates and times set out below.

February

• Monday 12, 3-5pm
• Thursday 15, 10am-12pm
• Saturday 17, 1-2.30pm
• Tuesday 20, 5-7pm
• Thursday 22, 2-4pm
• Friday 23, 10.30am-12.30pm
• Monday 26, 10am-12pm
• Wednesday 28, 10am-12pm

March

• Saturday 2, 2-4pm
• Tuesday 5, 5-7pm
• Thursday 7, 2-4pm
• Friday 8, 10.30am-12.30pm
• Monday 11, 3-5pm
• Wednesday 13, 10am-12pm
• Friday 15, 10.30am-12.30pm
• Monday 18, 5-7pm
• Tuesday 19, 3-5pm
• Sunday 24, 1-3pm
• Monday 25, 3-5pm
• Wednesday 27, 12-2pm
• Thursday 28, 1-3pm

Main picture: Campaigner Kevin Hill is seen on part of the Minster Gardens that, along with the toilet block and tarmacked area will be cleared for the proposed annexe

Read more:

• Ripon Cathedral announces next steps in annexe plan
• Trees still stand in the way of annexe plan
• Cathedral pauses controversial planning application

Ripon’s fast-growing theatre festival — now in its third year — will take place from Tuesday, July 2 to Sunday, July 7.

Building on the success of the two previous festivals, the events and activities will run over five days and six nights.

With interest expected to be high, tickets for six of the events will go on sale on Saturday (February 10).

This year’s highlights include an appearance by radical theatre company Red Ladder, a cabaret act featuring the music of Victoria Wood and a return visit from actor Barrie Rutter (pictured below)

Barrie Rutter. Pic: Nobby Clarke

Natalie Bellingham

This summer’s programme will see Newby Hall as a new location for festival favourites and open-air theatre specialists Illyria and the garden at the Old Deanery will also provide a backdrop for theatre al fresco when it hosts the Sunday night Shakespearean finale.

Festival director Katie Scott told the Stray Ferret:

“The first release of tickets includes Look After Your Knees, a beautiful and touching one-woman show from up-and-coming artist Natalie Bellingham, Shakespeare’s Royals from Barrie Rutter (plus special guest), Looking for Me Friend – the Music of Victoria Wood and We’re Not Going Back – Red Ladder’s thought-provoking musical comedy set during the 1984/5 miners’ strike.

“Tickets also go on sale this weekend for open air family theatre at Newby Hall (The Adventures of Doctor Doolittle) and Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Old Deanery.”

Full details of all the festival’s plans including street theatre, pop-up events and free family activities will be announced at the official launch on Thursday 21 March.

Tickets are already on sale for this event which features comedy cook George Egg with his latest show Set Menu. Tickets include the show, refreshments and festival information.Full information at www.ripontheatrefestival.org

Main image: We’re Not Going Back – Red Ladder’s thought-provoking musical comedy, will be one of the festival highlights: Picture Ripon Theatre Festival

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• Will Homes England protect Ripon’s military heritage?
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Who exactly was Mrs Carey and what was her connection to Bloomsbury Group poet Vita Sackville-West?

That’s the tantalising mystery that Ripon-based professional book sleuth and curio hunter Daniel Hornsey of Hornseys Gallery, is attempting to unravel.

Mr Hornsey, who has worked from his Kirkgate shop for three decades, is recognised in the world of literature and collecting for his uncanny knack of tracking down the rarest of first edition books, with associations to some of the world’s best-known real life and fictional characters.

These have ranged from James Bond creator Ian Fleming to Winnie The Pooh – who has his 100th birthday in December.

Now his attention is turned to Mrs Carey,  the sleuth’s only missing piece in the Sackville-West story,

Her name appears in a signed letter which, along with an enclosed three-page hand-written manuscript, was posted to her by the world-famous poet in May 1933.The letter and manuscript are among the rarest items in Mr Hornsey’s possession and he is trying to find out why she gave it so readily to Mrs Carey, instead of keeping it on her files

The married Ms Sackville-West raised eyebrows in 1920s society when she and Virginia Woolf became lovers. Both were members of the group of artists, writers and philosophers and progressive thinkers, whose influence is still apparent to this day.

The May 1933 letter to Mrs Carey

Dates on the letter check out and substantiate the provenance of the enclosure — an amended draft, of the epic poem Sissinghurst,  celebrating the splendour of the garden that the writer lovingly created at the Kent castle of that name.

But Mrs Carey and her part in this literary quiz, remains unanswered and in the ancient city of Ripon, the sleuth’s online search continues.

Vita Sackville-West

Virginia Woolf. Pic: The Parish Review

Sackville-West’s ‘Collected Poems, Volume One, published in 1933 at the Hogarh Press owned by Ms Woolf and her husband Leonard, is a collectors’ item in its own right, but there is much more to it.

Found concealed within the pages of the anthology was a signed letter and a three-page hand-written manuscript, which had been posted by the poet to the mysterious recipient.

Mr Hornsey told the Stray Ferret:

“With the passage of time, highly sought-after collectors’ items of this quality and condition very rarely come on the market and they can be worth a fortune.

“This isn’t just any manuscript with accompanying signed letter, but one featuring an iteration of Ms Sackville-West’s epic and most famous poem Sissinghurst, celebrating the splendour of the garden that the writer created at the Kent castle of that name The property is now owned by the National Trust.”

The letter read:

“Dear Mrs Carey, I find that I have not got a typewritten copy of the poem you wanted, so I hope you will forgive me for sending it to you in manuscript’.”

Mr Hornsey said:

“Attached to this letter with a now-removed but retained paperclip are three pages of lined A4 paper onto which she has extraordinarily written the entire Sissinghurst poem in fountain pen. Written in praise of her house and garden, which she had bought as a farmstead ‘of squalor and disorder’ in 1930.

“It contains a number of corrections by her with directions where spaces should be, changes in punctuation, some in pen, some in pencil and some textual differences to the version published in this Collected Poems and in the first individual edition of 1931 which was also published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf at The Hogarth Press.

“This manuscript was not in fact written specifically for Mrs Carey: We believe that it is an exceptionally early draft.”

Vita Sackville-West’s hand-written poem

He added:

“Much of this belief hinges on her use of ‘slender tower’ rather than ‘springing tower’, ‘the stagnant moat’ rather than ‘a stagnant moat’ on the first page and ‘Himalayas’ rather than ‘snowy mountains’ mid-way through the poem.

“These words were changed before the 1931 edition and we can never know why Sackville-West gave away this manuscript. She usually kept all her papers, but the language of the letter shows that she was more than happy to do so.”

Mr Hornsey continued:

“Sackville-West had dedicated the Sissinghurst poem: ‘Thursday. To V.W.’ Their love affair covered the period from 1925 – 1935 and from 1930 onwards Vita would begin the transformation of Sissinghurst itself into Britain’s finest 20th century garden.

“Her Sissinghurst home remains as Vita left it when she died, decorated with two photos: one of her husband and one of Virginia Woolf, for whom she wrote this poem.”

The next question for the book sleuth, is where will his incredible discovery next be seen?

The vast majority of Vita Sackville-West’s papers and manuscripts are held by Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library., But, in view of the subject matter, a return to Sissinghurst Castle, would seem appropriate.

However, the National Trust, to whom Mr Hornsey has made an approach, may find itself in a transatlantic bidding war for this very scarce and important item.

In the meantime, the hunt for Mrs Carey goes on …

Main picture: Book sleuth and curio hunter Daniel Hornsey, with the signed letter and three-page hand-written Sackville-West manuscript.